


First Meeting

by WriterRose



Category: Xiaolin Showdown (Cartoon)
Genre: First Meetings, Friendship, Gen, Pre-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-28
Updated: 2017-01-28
Packaged: 2018-09-20 13:00:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9491897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WriterRose/pseuds/WriterRose
Summary: Clay Bailey moves to China to live in an ancient temple and train with other children his age.(Or, how Clay, Kimiko, and Raimundo first meet each other prior to the actual start of the series.)





	

**Author's Note:**

> Not really relevant to the actual plot, but I imagine Clay to be 14, Raimundo 13, Kimiko 12, and Omi 10.
> 
> EDIT 2/13/2017: Fixed some typos and sentence structures. So the Bailey Ranch is no longer a place where "Cows farm", I'm sad to say.

If someone told Clay a week ago that he'd be living in a temple in northern China with three other kids from around the world, all wearing a getup like something outta one of those Kung Fu movies his sister liked to watch, well he’d say they're crazier than a mad cow. But, here he was, doing exactly that. It's not really how Clay expected his life to go. 

As the oldest in his family, he expected to inherit the ranch and that’s that. Never did he imagine that he'd be involved in all this fighting business. But when an old man who called himself Master Fung arrived at the ranch, telling Clay and his Daddy that he was one of the “Chosen Ones” and was given the chance to travel to China of all places to train, Clay’s life became a whole lot bigger than just worrying about the ranch and what his Daddy thought of him.

One thing Clay had to worry about was his new training-mates. Clay wasn't the only one to get an invite to go live in an ancient Chinese temple. He was a Xiaolin Dragon of the Earth (in training) and that meant that there were three other students to go along with the other natural elements. He had asked Master Fung about the other students but the old man was very vague with the information he provided. 

They were all in the same age group, which worried Clay a bit as he's never had much experience with kids his age. Their ranch was a good two hours out of town so it wasn't like he could play with any neighbors or anything and any schooling that Clay had was all done at home. He used to go to school when he was younger but after Mama died, Daddy didn't like any of his children wandering too far away. Of course that all went down the drain when Jesse ran off and Patty begged to be sent off to a fancy school over in Dallas, saying that his smarts were wasted at the ranch. 

For a good two years, Clay has been the only Bailey child left at home and while he’ll admit it did get rather lonesome being the only kid around, it was what he was used to. 

Apparently Clay was the oldest of the new recruits and the youngest of them was 10. Master Fung was adamant about how the youngest, Omi, was very mature for his age and not to worry, but Clay didn't really mind. He's used to being the oldest and his little brother was around the same age.

He also learned that each of the Dragon recruits were from all over the world which excited Clay a great deal. In the middle of nowhere, Texas you don't get a chance to meet that many new people. The most foreign person Clay had ever meet was Mrs. Rodriguez, who was only from Mexico. Which is a very rich culture but it's not very far away. Clay reckons he could’ve traveled there whenever he’d like, if his Daddy would’ve let him. 

Omi was raised in the temple in China and Master Fung informed him that the other two were from Japan and Brazil. Daddy wasn’t too big on teaching geography that didn’t contain any of the U.S. states or territories, but Clay knew that Japan was an island nation, over in Asia. They’re big on technology and fought the U.S. in one of the World Wars. Maybe Two. He thinks that Brazil is in South America. From what he heard the last time he went into town and overheard some kids who had television talking, there were a lot of sporting events held there.

“You okay there, cowboy?” asked Dojo, a small green dragon that was currently scrutinizing Clay from his position on the floor. Another thing that would have alarmed him a week ago. Not just a dragon, but a talking dragon. A talking dragon that lead him to the funny-looking door that would lead him to his new teammates. “You've been sorta just standing outside the door for a while now.” the reptilian commented. 

“Ah, I guess I’m just a little nervous is all.” Clay admitted, scratching his cheek sheepishly. “Don't have much experience with other kids is all…”

“You and me both, kid.” Dojo huffed. The lizard-sized dragon appeared to be actually steaming as he started to rant in a gruff and annoyed tone. “I'm an ancient guardian, a protector! Not a babysitter.” He seemed to have finished until he looked to Clay and said “No offense or anything.” 

“None taken, uh, sir.” Clay assured, rather unsure of what the correct respectful title for an ancient Chinese dragon would be. 

“Well, you've got nothing to worry about anyways,” Dojo continued, waving away Clay’s worries as well as some of the steam hanging around in the air. But now that Clay thinks about it, it might be smoke. Dragons do breathe fire… “Omi is off doing whatever he does, so it’s only the other two in there. And they're not a very talkative bunch…”

Clay simply nodded, not trusting himself to speak. Despite his new, small friend’s assurances, he still felt a little uneasy. It had been an awfully long time since he’s met other kids. 

“There is no need to fear the future when it is only a step away.” came the wistful voice of Master Fung, announcing the arrival of the old man. 

Clay was admittedly a little startled by the sudden entrance but Dojo looked as if he expected it. “You know that appearing act of yours really does take some time to get used to. You really shouldn’t use it on the new recruits so soon.”

“Have no fear of your new teammates, Clay.” Master Fung continued on, ignoring Dojo’s comment. “They too are in a new environment and are just as curious as you.” the Master reassured. 

Clay raised his eyebrows out of curiosity and shock. “How’d you know I was curious, sir?” he inquired.

Master Fung raised one eyebrow right back and gave Clay a knowing look, which Clay now thinks is just the older man’s natural look. “What traveler wouldn’t be curious about foreign lands and people?” 

“And there you go, answering a question with a question. You can never get a straight answer outta him.” Dojo commented.

“Shouldn’t you be finding Omi?” Master Fung merely asked.

“Yeah yeah. I’m going, I’m going.” the little green dragon huffed as he started to slither away, muttering about not being a nanny as he left the two humans alone.

Master Fung shook his head in amused annoyance before turning his attention back to Clay. “I should be taking my leave as well.” he announced. “And you should stop fearing the future, young Monk.” the Master advised, placing a hand on one of Clay’s shoulders. “I have a suspicion you might like it.” he said aloofly. He made his way down the hall, taking a different turn than Dojo did, but before he left completely he stopped and looked to Clay. “The door slides open.” he informed and then disappeared, answering the question that Clay had before he could even ask it. He really was a strange man…

Clay figured that he’d done enough dilly dallying and it was about time he manned-up and went through that funny-looking door and met his fellow ‘Monks’. Taking a deep breath, Clay mucked up his courage and slide open the door. Though he seemed to have made a horrible guess as to how hard the door would be to open, because it weighed practically nothing and so he slammed the sliding door open into the opposite end of the wall causing a loud BANG which then caused the occupants of the room to notice his arrival. 

Clay felt his face heat up as two pairs of eyes landed on him. The two occupants in the room were a boy and a girl. The boy was tanned and had green eyes and short brown hair that seemed as if it wasn’t really styled well. The other was an Asian girl with pale skin and light blue eyes and blonde hair. She was also wearing a very strange getup which made the duo look even more strange, considering the boy was only wearing what looked like cargo pants and a hoodie with short sleeves.

“Umm, howdy.” Clay spoke smartly.

The boy, who was in a half sitting, half laying position on the floor, raised one of his thick eyebrows at him, in a scrutinizing but also curious manner. The girl, who seemed to be in the middle of talking on a mobile phone, blink at Clay for a moment until she spoke into her phone. “ _Keiko? Mata ato de denwa shimasu._ ” she said in a foreign language that Clay did not understand one word of. Japanese, right? The Japanese speak Japanese. What did Brazilian people speak? Brazilian? No, that’s not right...

Shoot. Clay really didn’t think of the language barrier at all. How were they supposed to talk to each other? 

“ _Denwa or mata._ ” the girl said before hanging up the phone and giving her full attention to Clay. “ _Konbanwa._ ” she spoke again, this time to Clay but he'll be darned if he knew what she said.

“Uhhh…” was all Clay was able to say in response.

“Oh, my bad.” the girl now spoke in slightly-accented English. “You're American, of course.” she said in a friendly tone as she gestured to Clay’s hat. “Sometimes it's hard to switch between languages, y’know?”

“Ah, not really.” Clay said, until he realized what his words could imply. “I-I mean, I wouldn't really know. I'm afraid I only really know English. And a bit of Spanish, I suppose.” 

The girl smiled politely back at Clay but the other boy in the room seemed to have lost interest and fully laid down on the floor and shut his eyes, presumably what he was doing before Clay clumsily entered. “That’s fine!” the girl reassured. “I can speak English.” 

“Pretty well too, if you ask me. What's your name, little missy?” Clay requested.

The girl seemed to enjoy the compliment as she smiled prettily at Clay. “Kimiko.” she answered, then turned to the boy who looked as if he was currently napping. “That's Raimundo. But don't bother trying to speak to him. He's been mute since he got here yesterday.”

“ _Mentiras._ ” the boy, Raimundo, suddenly called, not changing his pose at all. 

Kimiko looked slightly annoyed as she sarcastically informed. “Oh, that's right. He only responds in one word sentences. My mistake.” 

“ _Loquaz._ ” he spoke again, lazily waving her off. 

“There he goes again...” Kimiko grumbled, seeming to get quite heated. The boy in turned gave her an unimpressed side-eye glance.

“Does he not speak English?” Clay asked of the boy instead, before an argument could happen. 

It seemed to have done the trick as Kimiko turned back to him and answered. “No. Well, he understands English. It's just–”

“I don't speak it a lot.” Raimundo spoke up in a more heavily accented English than Kimiko’s. They both looked to him to see both his eyes open and focusing on them. “No practice, really.” he elaborated.

“Are you kidding me?” Kimiko questioned in disbelief. “A whole day of one word answers in Portuguese and you speak English just fine?”

“What's it matter? Not like I could get a word in with all your chattering.” 

“ _Nani?_ ” 

Hoping to keep the peace once more, Clay interrupted before a fight could break out. “Well, it's mighty fine to meet you both.”

It worked again, as Kimiko turned to Clay once more, anger forgotten. “It's nice to meet you too,” she paused, as if realizing something. “I never asked for your name! I'm so sorry.” she apologized frantically. 

“It's alright.” the American tried to placate calmly. “The name’s Clay.”

“Like the mud?” Raimundo questioned in a disbelieving tone. He was suddenly sitting up and seemed to be observing Clay. “Don't tell me you're the Dragon of the Earth?” 

Clay’s face heated up once again. “Uh, yes…” he muttered quietly, hoping they wouldn't be able to hear his answer though his Daddy would've chided him for it. He always got mad when Clay mumbled. 

But Raimundo seemed to have heard him as he gave a laugh that sounded more like a scoff. “ _Uau..._ ” he commented in a tone that sounded quite sarcastic as he returned to a slouched position. 

“Come sit down, Clay.” Kimiko offered, ignoring the Brazilian’s tone and patting a red cushion next to her. Kimiko was on top of the small cushion, sitting on her knees while Raimundo was using his more like a pillow. Clay, unsure of the correct way to sit on the cushion, ended up just sitting crisscrossed and placing the plush object in his lap.

“So you’re American?” Kimiko started conversationally. “What part of America are you from?”

Clay gave a tip of his hat and bore a big smile. “Texas, born and raised.”

" _Chocante."_

Kimiko shot Raimundo another glare before grinning back. “That’s great! Probably one of the only States I know a bit about. It’s got a reputation.”

“Good things I hope.”

“Oh, yes. I hear everything is larger than life there. American Dream and all that.” 

“ _Obter um quarto._ ”

"If you got something to say, say it in English, huh?" Kimiko retorted angrily.

“Well, what about ya’ll?” Clay started instead. “I’m not too good in geography, but I might know a thing or two about your homes.”

Raimundo didn’t seem like he’d make any attempt at answering so Kimiko decided to take over, for once not angry at the lack of conversation the tanned teen provided.

“I’m from Tokyo.” the petite girl informed. “Big city filled with lots of people. It’s also the capital.”

“I remember that.” Clay said. “Ya’ll are big on technology, right?”

Kimiko nodded enthusiastically. “Oh, yeah.” she sing-songed, confirming with a wave of her pink cellular device. “Texas has a lot of open space, doesn’t it? And farmland?” she asked in return.

“Yeah, kinda. My family actually owns a cattle ranch.”

“Cattle ranch?” inquired Raimundo, surprisingly. He seemed to be joining the conversation for real this time, interested in the unfamiliar term. 

“A cow farm, basically.” Clay answered happily. “We raise them and sell them to other farms or beef manufactures. If you ever go to Texas and get yourself a steak, it most likely came from the Bailey Ranch.” he stated proudly.

“Wow!” Kimiko chimed earnestly. “That’s so cool! Kinda like my family. We’re big tech manufactures.” she informed, equally as prideful.

“What a coincidence. What about you, Raimundo?” the Texan asked curiously, hoping to get the other boy to open up. This seemed to have the opposite effect however, as Raimundo immediately froze and his expression hardened.

“What about me?” he responded coldly.

“What does your family do?” Kimiko queried with a hint of annoyance. 

“I don’t think it’s any of your business.” he replied with an even more argumentative tone. 

Kimiko’s anger seemed to flare, but before she could go off, Clay decided to try a different line of questioning. “You’re from Brazil right? What part? If you don’t mind tellin’.”

This seemed to have the desired effect, as the front that Raimundo put up vanished. “Rio de Janeiro.” he answered. 

“Is that the capital?” Clay asked once more.

“No.” the brunette answered. “That’s Brasília.”

“Is it the largest city then?”

“No. It’s São Paulo.” he informed, sounding a bit annoyed again, much to Clay’s dismay.

Kimiko came to his rescue however when she stated “It’s really popular though. Rio, that is. I hear a lot about it.” Raimundo simply raised his eyebrow, so she went on. “It’s big during that festival, right? The, uh...circus?” she finished, unsure. Raimundo looked genuinely shocked at Kimiko’s statement and seemed as if he were about to shut down again until the female continued upon seeing his expression. “No, that’s not the right word…” she mumbled something in Japanese to herself as she tried to find the right word. “The carnival?”

Raimundo relaxed as he heard the familiar word. “Oh. You mean _Carnaval._ ”

“I heard of that.” Clay spoke up. “Big party for the whole town, right? There are a few places in the States that do it too.”

“No one does it like Rio, though.” Raimundo stated a bit smugly with a smirk. Seeing as this was the first time they had gotten the Brazilian to display such an expression, Clay thought it’d be good to continue on with the subject of his country. People usually have a lot of pride for where they come from, so it was a good conversation piece if you kept it rolling in the right direction.

“I hear sports are big over there too.” Clay brought up. “Like soccer.” At Raimundo’s blank expression he tried to elaborate. “Ya’know. Kicking a ball around on a field. Scoring goals.”

Recognition flashed across the Brazilian’s face once more. “Ah, we call it _futebol._ ” he informed, his eyes seeming to light up a bit. 

“Do you play?"

“Course I do. Not on a team, but for fun.” 

“Any good?” Kimiko asked.

“Naturally.” the tanned teen replied without any hesitation.

“We should totally have a game together one day.” she suggested. Both boys looked to her. “It’d be fun. And we’d have enough for teams of two once we meet the other guy.” she elaborated.

The other two took a moment to think this idea over before they came to their own similar conclusion. 

“I'm game.” Raimundo said, crossing his arms behind his head and returning to a reclined position with a big, smug grin. “But prepare to eat my dust.”

Clay gave a small smile that didn't show how truly pleased he was. “I reckon it’d be mighty fun.”

**Author's Note:**

> Some translations may be incorrect. Please correct me if I’m wrong.
> 
> Japanese:  
> “Keiko? Mata ato de denwa shimasu.” = “Keiko? (Kimiko’s friend in Japan) I’ll call you back.”  
> “Denwa or mata” = A way to say goodbye to a friend on the phone.  
> “Konbanwa” = “Good evening”  
> “Nani?” = “What?”
> 
> Portuguese:  
> “Mentiras.” = “Lies.”  
> “Loquaz” = “Loquacious (chatty).”  
> "Uau..." = "Wow..."  
> "Chocante." = "Shocking."  
> “Obter um quarto.” = “Get a room.”  
> \-----------  
> *Clay’s mother’s current whereabouts/living status is unknown. I headcanon that she is deceased.  
> *I included Patty, Clay’s younger brother from Xiaolin Chronicles, because I like the idea of Clay being the oldest of three. Even though Chronicles is really hard for me to watch most of the time...  
> *Kimiko’s hair is described as blonde because she is wearing a wig when we first meet her. Her real hair is revealed at the end of the ep. (But you can also see it in the opening credits).  
> *Raimundo gets closed off when they start talking about how wealthy Kimiko and Clay’s families are because I headcanon that he comes from a poor family, as it’s stated in a later ep that he has 8 brothers and sisters.  
> *Raimundo has an aversion/fear of the circus because he used to work at one. He has bad memories from working there. (This is not a headcanon, actually).  
> \-----------
> 
> This is my first XS fanfic. Hope you enjoyed it. Feedback is appreciated. 
> 
> I may or may not add a special bonus chapter taking place after their little group is established, but as of right now this story is complete.


End file.
